Page 78 of Wynter's Bite

“Oh, I do,” she said quickly. “It is just that I did not expect to happen so quickly after we arrived. I’d hoped for more time to prepare.”

Unbelievably, Lady Deveril laughed. “Oh, sugar. Do not worry. I had far less time than you, and everything was all right.” She looked up at her husband. “May I have a few moments to talk with her and offer reassurances?”

Vincent nodded. “I need to take Lord de Wynter to feed and wake up my solicitor to send for a Special License. And Miss Mead looks as if she could do with a bath and a hot meal.”

Bethany flushed, realizing how disheveled she must appear... not to mention her odor. Justus bent and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “I will return to you shortly.” Something glimmered in his eyes.

Fear and uncertainty, she recognized.

He’d misinterpreted her words. He thought she didn’t want to become a vampire and spend her life with him. She reached out to reassure him, but he and the Lord of Cornwall had already walked away.

Lady Deveril hooked Bethany’s arm in hers. “Let’s get you cleaned up and fed. I’d already had the servants bring up hot water for me when I finished painting, but you are far more in need of a bath than I.”

“Thank you, my lady.” She curtsied.

“Please, call me Lydia,” the young vampire said. “And may I call you Bethany?”

“Of course.” Bethany curtsied, glad to do anything to make this woman happy.

Lydia led her up to a magnificent chamber hung with even more glorious paintings of landscapes and animals. A monstrous bed with an oak frame and a blue canopy dominated the room. A fluffy gray and white cat bolted up from its perch atop the embroidered coverlet and bolted from the room. A large brass tub sat near the fireplace. Once Bethany sank into the steaming water, she looked up at Lydia. “What did you mean when you said you had far less time to prepare for the Change than I?”

“My throat was slit by a cutthroat in an alley,” Lydia said as she scrubbed Bethany’s back with a damp cloth. “Thank heavens that Vincent was there. He Changed me immediately.”

Bethany jolted so hard in the tub that water sloshed the edges. “Sweet Jesus!”

“I think it was my grandmother’s doing.” Lydia sounded indifferent as she reached for the bottle of shampoo. “She did her utmost to get rid of me.”

“Why?” Her own parents had also wanted her off their hands, but they would never resort to murder.

“My father married a commoner, and they fled to America after Grandmother disowned him.” A note of derision tinged her voice, underpinned with disappointment. “When they died, my arrival in England meant the return of the old scandal. Lady Morley abhors scandal. So she convinced Lord Deveril to take me as his ward, thinking he’d keep me tucked away in Cornwall, but instead he brought me to London to find me a husband.”

Bethany gasped. “Lord Deveril was your guardian?”

“To my utter disappointment, yes.” Lydia handed her the washcloth and a cake of scented soap and averted her gaze as Bethany scrubbed her body. “For I think I tumbled head over heels in love with him the night I first laid eyes on him. And I was bound and determined to make him realize I’d already found my perfect match, though I didn’t know that he felt the same until after he Changed me.” A dreamy smile crossed her lips. “I’ll have to tell you the whole story another time. Right now, we need to prepare you for your new life as a vampire.”

“Yes.” The present crashed around her, heavy as a cairn. She dunked her head beneath the water before taking the shampoo. “Does it hurt?”

Lydia nodded. “For a small amount of time, when your fangs grow and your body changes. “But after that, it’s wondrous. Colors and scents are more vivid, you can move like the wind, and you will heal almost any injury. Vincent taught me the joy of this existence, which is so odd because he loathed being a vampire before we met. He too was Changed without a choice.” Wonder shone in her eyes as she told Bethany about her first nights as a vampire.

And while Bethany learned much of what to expect from her new life, she also knew what was most important: To have the man she loved by her side.

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